The present invention generally relates to devices adapted to mount a light to a scope of a firearm, air gun, airsoft gun, etc.
Telescopic sights, or scopes, are commonly mounted on firearms including handguns, long guns, and automatic weapons, air guns including air pistols and air rifles, airsoft guns, and various other types of equipment. Optical sights and especially laser sights are also becoming more common for military, hunting and recreational use. Lasers emit a beam of coherent light that is concentrated and unidirectional, and are therefore preferred for targeting use over other forms of light that are incoherent, relatively weak, and omni-directional.
In most cases, a laser sight (or “laser designator”) is mounted to a scope to emit a laser beam parallel to the axes of the scope and barrel from which a projectile is fired. The laser light appears as a small spot over long distances, enabling the user to place the spot on a target viewed through the reticle of the scope and, in doing so, indicate the trajectory of the projectile (not taking into consideration elevation (drop) and windage). Whereas most laser sights use a red laser diode, infrared diodes and other laser light colors have been used, including green laser diodes. Green laser beams having a wavelength of 532 nm are advantageous because green light is at the peak of the human eye's sensitivity, thereby producing more visible light with less energy compared to other light sources. Such efficiencies reduce the power requirements of the laser, and therefore increase battery life. FIG. 14 schematically represents the operation of a green DPSS (diode-pumped solid-state) laser of a type known in the art. A commercial example of a laser designator using this technology is the ND-3 and ND-5 series available from Laser Genetics, Inc.
Laser sights are often rigidly mounted, resulting in the inability of the user to make elevation (vertical) and windage (horizontal) adjusts to the laser beam.